Inherently Unequal?

Do we want our children and granchildren to live in a society
symbolized by our American creed? Or do we succumb to the weakest
and most selfish parts of our human nature?

Seldom has there been a more auspicious time for school systems to
address race issues. In contrast to earlier efforts launched over the
past four decades, perhaps, just maybe, some lessons have been learned.
This view may seem cloudy and unrealistic given the current heated
positions being taken and the many disturbing examples of racially
driven actions. Yet often in life, just when it appears that the lowest
pit has been reached and little if any hope for progress is possible,
things begin to turn around.

Not too long ago, Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King
put it this way:

"Exclusively identifying with one another by blood and staying
behind the walls of our self-chosen segregation may be the way it is
these days, but in the long run is it really a good thing? I think
not. ... We have left fertile ground for racial separatists and
antisemites, sexists and homophobes to muck around. And they are
quietly having the time of their lives."

The motivation to desegregate schools throughout the '60s and '70s
has steadily weakened. Many reasons account for this, including
politicizing desegregation and the strategies of busing, affirmative
action, and curricular revisions. While the country became increasingly
divided, the rhetoric heated up, fueled by terms like "forced busing,"
gerrymandered school zones, and white backlash. Talk show hosts, Rush
Limbaugh and others, relished the emotions being stirred, not to
mention the profits that were (and still are) building their personal
bank accounts. Add to the above the O.J. Simpson trials, the Rodney
King incident, skinheads, militia groups, and more than enough examples
exist to spark abhorrent action--as indeed they have.

Still, there is opportunity for school districts to recapture the
spirit and drive to integration. The words of the 1954 Supreme Court
decision still ring true, still make sense: "Separation is inherently
unequal."

What other institution has enabled more people to succeed, to
realize their dreams, or to make our nation more
democratic?

Leadership is needed at all levels. Only now we have reason to be more
realistic, pragmatic, and less naive. Let us learn from this
history.

Sadly, complex matters are not resolved until crises arrive. Like a
neglected tooth, problems "abscess" and eventually demand resolution.
And we do have choices that will attract families, regardless of race
and ethnicity.

What can be done? We can continue to separate and listen to those,
white and black, advocating divisive solutions. Or we can re-examine
the demographic changes occurring by taking advantage of different
housing patterns that allow more natural accommodation of school
desegregation plans. This may work within a particular school district,
or it may require metropolitan plans that provide more equity in
resources--human and material. With proper planning, this need not
destroy local identities and loyalties. Indeed, there is possible
enhancement of these traditions.

Principles and values backing desegregation remain morally in tune.
They were right and fit the basic sentiments of our most revered
documents. But history shows that like machinery, human beings dislike
and respond poorly to heavy-handed efforts to make things work.

What have we learned from the past four decades?

The degree of racial hatred was underestimated by both blacks and
whites--especially whites.

School districts by themselves cannot overcome the many obstacles
to desegregation. (Remember, only two institutions, the military and
the public schools, made the attempt.) Now, other agencies and the
private sector must collaborate for their own survival.

Plans were primarily developed from the top, but the tough but
necessary involvement of communities and other institutions is
essential.

Busing strategies were based on routes that placed an unfair
burden on blacks and minorities. (Political power ensured this.)

Court orders were often unrealistic, theoretical, and lacking in
sophisticated knowledge of geographic areas.

More organized coalitions were needed to combat unfortunate but
natural human reactions.

Too much faith was given to human understanding of inequality and
inequity.

With the ugliness and growing spread of urban decay that now
threatens suburbs comes an urgency to address desegregation and the
absolute necessity of narrowing the frightening gap between economic
classes that is growing. And altruism or affluent beneficence is
certainly not the primary motivating factor. The survival of American
society and all that our ideals represent are at stake. Do we want our
children and grandchildren to live in a society symbolized by our
American creed? Or do we succumb to the weakest and most selfish parts
of our human nature? The latter will destroy us.

Placing such weight on our public schools may be asking too much.
But if one thinks back through our relatively short history as a
nation, what other institution has enabled more people to succeed, to
realize their dreams, or to make our nation more democratic?

By
Robert W. Peebles

Robert W. Peebles, a retired schools superintendent, is the executive
director of the Washington Area School Study Council. He lives in
Alexandria, Va.

Vol. 16, Issue 20, Page 64

Published in Print: February 12, 1997, as Inherently Unequal?

Related Stories

For background, past stories, and Web links, see our Issues Page on
Desegregation.
Read our story "As Desegregation
Changes, So Must Educators, Law Experts Say," April 24, 1996.
"Beyond Busing," Feb. 7, 1996. As
districts grapple with school desegregation, they must weigh the value
of integration against the necessity of providing a quality education
for all students. Four writers offer their perspectives in this special
Commentary report.

Web Resources

Brown v. Board of Education. Text of the landmark
1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision. It states that the "separate but
equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson "has no
place in the field of public education."

The
Changing Face of Racial Isolation and Desegregation in Urban
Schools. This 1993 digest from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban
Education focuses on several current issues in school desegregation
that stem from recent changes in demography and policy, and
research.